The Ruthless Red Pen by Randall Andrews

In the south of Australia, an editor sits at his desk wielding a magical red pen. The story before him morphs with his every deft touch, the words shifting and shuffling on the page.

After an hour, he flips to the last page of the manuscript, tweaking the author’s bio ever so slightly before moving on to the headshot. With confident strokes, he goes to work, removing an ugly skin blemish, straightening an awkwardly crooked nose, trimming away a little extra flesh from the cheeks.

***

In the northern United States, an author screams in agony as the edits take effect.